Give Back: Hoyt's Truck Center
Photos by Emma Highfill, Rose Wheat Photography
When Hoyt Moore was in his tweens and early teens, he and his three sisters rode to the Boys & Girls Club on an agency bus after school to play games and sports while their mother worked the evening shift at a packing plant in Greeley, Colorado.
“We didn’t have money for day care so without the Boys & Girls Club, we would have been left to our own devices,” said Moore, owner of Hoyt’s Truck Center. “Kids like us needed a place to go and guidance, although I’m not sure I fully realized all that in the moment. I just enjoyed playing basketball and foosball with my friends.”
After high school, Moore worked for a trucking company as a diesel technician. In 1987, he moved to Topeka with his employer and worked as a mechanic. When his employer went out of business, Moore bought a truck and started his own company in 1991. He added a repair shop in 1993. Today, Hoyt’s Truck Center employs 75 people in three locations and offers truck and trailer repairs, maintenance services, rental and leasing options, emergency road assistance and a gear shop.
Moore was busy growing a successful business and raising three children with his wife, Laurie, when a serendipitous tour of Boys & Girls Clubs of Topeka eight years ago allowed him to merge his past and present.
Marvin Spees, owner of Capital City Oil and a colleague, asked Moore to accompany him on a tour of the agency with its chief executive officer, Dawn McWilliams.
“I knew right away that I wanted to partner with the agency by donating service work on their vehicles,” Moore said. “I know from my own experience how important it is to get kids picked up and dropped off safely and dependably.”
If a tire blows or a bus or van breaks down, Moore or one of his team members arrives immediately to assist.
“Every one of our employees buys into our philosophy about taking care of the business and taking care of others too,” he said. “We’re able to absorb some costs and fix the vehicles at a reasonable rate and it’s gratifying to us to be able to do that.”
To show their appreciation, McWilliams and the kids visit Hoyt’s Truck Center to deliver Christmas gifts and tour the shop.
“They don’t really understand everything that we do but they think the business is cool,” Moore said. “While they’re here, I talk to a few of them about my time with the Boys & Girls Club as a kid and they’re receptive to that.”
When Moore is out in the community, he’s often wearing a company logo shirt and children will approach him to thank him and his team for the services they provide.
The same is true for the company’s work with Family Service & Guidance Center, an agency that provides mental health programs for area youth. In addition to an annual monetary donation, Hoyt’s Truck Center has also assisted the agency with transportation issues, including once procuring a replacement van. Over a Thanksgiving weekend the Moore family flew to Salt Lake City to purchase one they’d found through one of the truck center’s online resources.
“We drove it back to Topeka and had a lot of fun on that trip,” Moore said. “And it taught our kids about giving versus receiving, especially during the holidays.”
Hoyt’s Truck Center hosts an annual customer appreciation event every Flag Day (June 14) with food and festivities that include classic cars and trucks and some of their own vehicles. The company has also sponsored Touch-A-Truck, an annual downtown event that celebrates the industry and kindles childhood ideas about potential career paths.
“I’ve always believed that God put us on earth to do a task, and if you find out what it is, you’ll succeed at it,” he said. “My whole life I’ve loved mechanical things and taking care of problems and that fascination has created a good life for me, my family and my employees. We all appreciate the opportunities we’ve had and the chance to support kids in finding whatever their passion or purpose might be.”
